Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Lymphatic Diseases
The lymphatic system is a network of tissues and organs. It is made up of:
- Lymph - a fluid that contains white blood cells that defend against germs
- Lymph vessels - vessels that carry lymph throughout your body. They are different from blood vessels.
- Lymph nodes - glands found throughout the lymph vessels. Along with your spleen, these nodes are where white blood cells fight infection.
Your bone marrow and thymus produce the cells in lymph. They are part of the system, too.
The lymphatic system clears away infection and keeps your body fluids in balance. If it's not working properly, fluid builds in your tissues and causes swelling, called lymphedema. Other lymphatic system problems can include infections, blockage, and cancer.
It sits within Immune System.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Lymphatic Diseases
29,437 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Targeted Therapy Directed by Genetic Testing in Treating Patients With Advanced Refractory Solid Tumors, Lymphomas, or Multiple Myeloma (The MATCH Screening Trial)National Cancer Institute (NCI)
- Pre-transplant Purging and Post-transplant MRD-guided Maintenance Therapy With Elranatamab in Patients With High-risk Multiple MyelomaM.D. Anderson Cancer Center
- Group Retreat Psilocybin Therapy for the Treatment of Anxiety and Depression in Patients With Metastatic Solid Tumors or Incurable Hematologic MalignanciesUniversity of Washington
- A Phase 1 Study of UB-VV500 With Rapamycin in Relapsed/Refractory Multiple MyelomaUmoja Biopharma
- Imatinib Mesylate or Dasatinib in Treating Patients With Previously Untreated Chronic Phase Chronic Myelogenous LeukemiaNational Cancer Institute (NCI)
- Inotuzumab Ozogamicin in Treating Younger Patients With B-Lymphoblastic Lymphoma or Relapsed or Refractory CD22 Positive B Acute Lymphoblastic LeukemiaChildren's Oncology Group
Research already completed
- Venetoclax in Combination With BEAM Conditioning Regimen for ASCT in Non-Hodgkin LymphomaCase Comprehensive Cancer Center
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- Lymphatic System (For Parents)Nemours Foundation
- Overview of the Lymphatic SystemMerck & Co., Inc.
Diagnosis and Tests
- LymphoscintigraphyRadiological Society of North America
Treatments and Therapies
- Drugs Approved for Multicentric Castleman DiseaseNational Cancer Institute
Related Issues
- Sentinel Lymph Node BiopsyNational Cancer Institute
Genetics
- Autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome: MedlinePlus GeneticsNational Library of Medicine
- Histiocytosis-lymphadenopathy plus syndrome: MedlinePlus GeneticsNational Library of Medicine
- Milroy disease: MedlinePlus GeneticsNational Library of Medicine
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Lymph NodesNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Lymphatic DiseasesNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Lymphatic Diseases. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Lymphatic Diseases, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.